Revealing Kia (The Lost Girl Series, Book 2)

by Phoenix, Airicka

  He was grinning as he made his way over to me. “I was going to ask if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight.”

  “Dinner?”

  His eyebrow winged up. “It’s a form of consuming nutrition and conversation. It usually involves two people going somewhere, preferably together.”

  “I know what dinner is, I just…” I shook my head. “Have you talked to Nessie?”

  “Not yet, but that was something I wanted to talk to you about … over dinner.”

  I frowned. “You haven’t told her?”

  He shook his head. “I will. I just haven’t had the chance—”

  “Where is she then? I’ve been trying to call her since the day after Christmas. She’s not answering any of my calls or my emails. I thought she was avoiding me because you told her.”

  “No, I haven’t. I also haven’t seen or talked to my sister since about the same time.”

  I stiffened. “What do you mean? You guys were up in the mountains together. Is she okay—”

  He put his hands up. “Easy. She’s fine. She’s been sulking in her room, sneaking down at night when everyone’s asleep to eat. It’s slowly driving my mom nuts. She keeps leaving her dirty dishes on the counter.”

  I exhaled. “She must still be hurting over what Gary did.”

  Adam frowned. “What did he do?”

  I shook my head. “I’ll tell you over dinner.”

  His eyes lit up. “So you’re accepting?”

  I grinned, pulling out a box of napkins from under the counter. “Looks that way. Besides, I want to talk to you about something as well.”

  He squinted at me warily. “Uh oh, not sure I like that tone.”

  I laughed.

  “What time do you get off?”

  We made arrangements for him to pick me up after work. I finished up my shift with half a mind lost to everything I would talk to him about and how I would ask him if he was a two timing asshole.

  Chapter XII

  Adam

  It wasn’t a surprise when I got home and Mom and Dad were gone. The house had an eerie calm I was all too familiar with. The note on the fridge told me that they’d gone back to the office and that Vanessa was up in her room. I crumpled the note and tossed it into the trash. It was officially back to the norm of things. The holidays were over and with it, family fun time. Most people wouldn’t believe how little we actually saw of our parents for a pair of dentists. But they spent most, if not all their time at the office, with the occasional break to travel around for conferences. They weren’t neglectful parents. They just believed in hard work and succeeding, which was why they never understood Vanessa’s lack of commitment to anything. Gary had been right about one thing, she was shallow and self-centered. The most I’d ever seen her care about anyone was Kia and even then, there were times when she forgot even that. As someone who had grown up with her, her moments of meanness went unnoticed, but I could see where people got so upset.

  I knocked on her door.

  “Van, I need to talk to you.”

  A moment of silence, then, “I’m not here.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked in anyway.

  The room was dark, except for the orange glow of light pushing against the drawn blinds. The floor was a landmine of clothes, shoes, books and CDs. I managed to avoid stepping on most of it as I made my way to the bed where I could just make out the unmoving figure sprawled beneath the blanket.

  “I said I wasn’t here,” she grumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow.

  “And I clearly didn’t believe you. Imagine that.”

  I could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

  “What do you want?”

  Kia. “For you to talk to me about what happened with Gary.”

  She snorted. “Why? It’s not like you ever cared before.”

  “True, but I want to listen now.”

  The sheets rustled. “Why? Am I your new charity for the month? I’m sure your parents will not approve of your choice.”

  I sighed. “They’re your parents, too, Van.”

  “Are they? They haven’t been my parents in years. The only family I have now is Kia, which is why you can’t have her.”

  I stiffened. “What?”

  “I know all about you guys sneaking around behind my back. Claudia was nice enough to send me beautiful pictures of you guys at her party, the one neither of you bothered to tell me you went to … together!”

  “We didn’t go together!” I shot back. “I didn’t even know it was Kia.”

  The blankets rustled as she shoved them off and sat up. “I know. Unlike you and my so called friend, Claudia has been very generous with information the last few days.”

  I frowned. “You can’t trust her.”

  “Says the liar.” She laughed coldly. “But I do believe that you didn’t know it was her. I finally put the pieces together you know, about how Kia’s the mystery girl you’ve been searching for. Dad would be so proud if he knew I did it all by myself.”

  “How long have you known?”

  “That you guys were screwing behind my back? Since our shopping trip through Whistler.”

  I recalled vaguely the text she’d gotten that evening. It had been overshadowed by the punch she’d given me a minute later, but I remembered.

  “You know we never meant for that to happen, don’t you?”

  “You mean like you never meant to accidentally put my flunked history test on the kitchen table for Mom to find so you could take Kia to the carnival? Or how you never meant to sleep with Taylor? Or how you never meant to steal Kia?”

  I had no idea how she knew about the test, but I was glad for the darkness as it concealed my grimace.

  “I’m sorry about the paper. It was low and I already said I was sorry about what happened with Taylor. But Kia isn’t Taylor.”

  “No, she’s not, which is why you can’t have her.”

  My gut hurt. I barely managed to keep my voice steady. “Why?”

  “Because she’s the only thing you haven’t taken from me. You’ve ruined my life otherwise so it’s kind of nice to see you suffer for once.”

  I felt my anger jump and had to smother it to keep it in check. “You would do that to her? To me?”

  “Her … no! I want her to be happy. I love her like a sister. You … yes. I would. Happily. I want to see you finally not get what you want. Perfect Adam finally gets what he deserves.”

  I was horrified by the venom in her voice. “You really hate me that much?”

  “Yes!” Her shout ripped through the room before I could finish speaking. “I hate you. I hate how perfect Mom and Dad think you are. I hate that no one ever says no to you.” She threw back the covers and got to her feet. “I hate that you can take whatever you want and not care how it hurts someone else.”

  “I have never taken anything from you.”

  She laughed, cold and bitter. “You’ve taken everything from me. You’re the reason I lost Zach. You’re the reason all my friends use me to get to you. You’re the reason Mom and Dad think there’s something wrong with me because I’m not like you. But not this time. Kia’s mine.”

  I turned to leave before I hit my own sister.

  “Do you know why I picked her?”

  I glanced back over my shoulder. “What?”

  “As a friend,” she murmured. “Because she’s the sort of girl no guy ever notices. She’s quiet and shy and she actually has a brain. I thought that would be enough to keep you away from her. I thought she would be smart enough not to fall for your bullshit. She disappoints me. She’s just like Taylor.”

  “She is nothing like Taylor. Taylor was a mistake for both of us. I care about Kia.”

  She snorted. “No you don’t. You love the chase.”

  “There is no chase.” I pivoted on my heel to face her. “I love her, Vanessa. I want to be with her and if you were any kind of friend, you wouldn’t make her decide between us.”

  “And why not? Afra
id she’ll pick me?”

  I shook my head. “I know she will because that’s the kind of friend Kia is. She’s loyal and she loves you. But can you live with yourself knowing you put your own selfish wants ahead of someone who cares enough about you to willingly give up their happiness because you asked them to?”

  “What about me?” she screamed. “What about my happiness? Don’t I deserve to be happy, Adam? Don’t I deserve someone to love me? Why does that make me selfish? Why does that make me a bad person?”

  “It doesn’t, but taking away another person’s chance at happiness does, especially if you claim to care for them.”

  She moved away from me and went to the nightstand. Light illuminated the room as she snapped on the lamp. Her blue eyes were wet and red rimmed. They were also the only color against her pale, tear-stained face as she stared at me.

  “I do care about Kia, which is why I won’t let you hurt her.”

  By the time I showered and dressed for my secret date with Kia, I was almost sure I was in complete control of my actions. I had all but tamed the seething desire to punch holes into the wall. It scared me all the more, the fact that I wasn’t angry with Van. Everything she’d said had been normal for her. I was angry with myself for being so stupid. Had I not fallen into Taylor’s trap, none of this would have happened. Van would have no reason to hate me. She would never have retaliated by getting involved with Zach, thus not been expelled and I would probably have met Kia under normal circumstances. I would have asked her out, she would have said yes and things would be fine. Van was right. It was all my fault. But despite that, I was too selfish to let it go, to let Kia go. I still wanted her. I still wanted to convince Van to let it happen, because without Van’s approval, Kia would never accept us. That annoying loyalty streak she had was both an endearing and frustrating trait. At that moment, it was just annoying.

  How could Kia, someone so smart, not see what Van was doing? How could she let herself be played into that trap? If she cared about me half as much as she said, why didn’t she, just for once, pick me? For someone who had never come second place to anything, I couldn’t say I liked the position she was putting me in.

  It was still snowing when I pulled up alongside the curb next to Taco-Taco. Everything was a flurry of white that gave the world a sleepy appearance. The odd person rushed along the sidewalk, but aside from the heat blasting through the car, it was quiet.

  Kia sprung out of Taco-Taco right on seven. She waved over her shoulder as she hurried through the door. I watched her squint up and down the road, probably searching for me. I watched the way the cold nipped color into her cheeks and the way she bit her lip. I watched the flakes cling to her hair and coat. She looked so sweet it hurt. I felt a physical wrench in my chest like I’d been punched.

  Working through the pain, I yanked open my door and stepped out. But the twist only amplified when she spotted me and her entire face lit up like it had Christmas when she’d opened my present.

  “Hey!” She jogged over to me. “I thought maybe you forgot about me.”

  I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. The twang was all too real still gnawing a hole in my chest. I acted instead. I took her by the waist and yanked her forward. I smothered her gasp with a kiss that pulsed with everything raging inside me.

  She was breathless and glossy eyed when I pulled back. Her lips were wet and as pink as her cheeks.

  She smiled at me. “Missed me, huh?”

  I laughed and moved aside a strand of hair out of her eye. “Yeah, I did.”

  Taking her hand, I lead her to the passenger’s side and opened the door. I waited until she was inside before closing the door and making my way to my seat.

  “So where are we going?” she asked, buckling in.

  I hadn’t thought of that, but I had an idea.

  “You up for a drive?” I asked her.

  She grinned. “I am, actually.”

  I took her hand over the console as we drove. Her fingers were small and warm entwined with mine. Her skin was soft, except where there was a small scab on her knuckle.

  “Reaching incident,” she said when my thumb roamed over it. “I was reaching for something under the counter and scrapped the top. Didn’t hurt.”

  I chuckled quietly and brought her injury to my lips. She squeezed my fingers.

  “What’s on your mind?” she asked. “You seem distracted.”

  What wasn’t on my mind? My parents were pushing for me to start longer hours at their dentist clinic where I interned on the weekends. Kenny was pushing for me to hang with Taylor and the group more than I cared to. My sister was pushing me to stay away from Kia, and if all that wasn’t bad enough, I had practice for a sport I didn’t even like at four that morning which meant less time with Kia. As headaches went, I was feeling the beginnings of a big one.

  “I’m fine.”

  What else could I say? I could hardly tell her that her best friend wanted to make both of us miserable to pay me back for something I’d already apologized for a million times. I wasn’t even sure how to tell Kia. There was still a huge possibility that she would pick Vanessa over me. She already had several times over.

  “Adam?” The gentle tug of her hand pulled me back to the present and I cleared my throat.

  “Yeah? Sorry.”

  “I asked if you were sure.”

  I should tell her. It was on the tip of my tongue. I hated lying to her. She deserved the truth. She deserved to know where we stood.

  After dinner.

  I wanted our date. I wanted that night with her, more than ever if it meant there was a chance it could be our last. I wanted to convince her that … what? That she needed to dump her friend and be with me? It sounded ridiculous and I couldn’t do that. I would tell her and somehow find the stomach to accept whatever decision she made.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” I kissed her fingers.

  The country style steakhouse was one of my favorites. They served one of the best rib racks in the world, in my opinion. For years, it had been my secret hideaway and I wasn’t sure why I was sharing it now, but I had a feeling Kia would enjoy it and I wanted it to be special.

  I opened the door for her and we were greeted by a wall of spices, BBQ sauce, roasted meat and steamed vegetables. I wanted to bathe in the stuff, but I stole a glance at Kia, curious to see what she thought.

  She smiled at me, but said nothing.

  We were led to a corner booth and left to wait for our waitress. I reached for my menu.

  “Okay, spill.”

  I started. “What?”

  Kia arched a brow dryly. “Don’t give me that. I know something’s been on your mind since we got into the car. What is it?”

  I dragged the plastic encased menu over to me. “Am I that easy to read?”

  “You’re reading your menu upside down.”

  So I was.

  I sighed and dropped the menu. “First tell me what you wanted to talk about.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Avoiding the question. Not sure how to feel about that.”

  “I’m not avoiding the question. I’m still going to answer, but I need some time to put the answer together.”

  Her smile faded. “That’s never good to hear. What happened?”

  I shook my head. “You first. Please.”

  She wet her lips and sat back. Her fingers picked at the corner of her menu. Her nervous fidgeting made me nervous.

  “I know about Claudia and Taylor,” she mumbled at last. She paused and rolled her eyes. “Well, I don’t know about them, but I know you’ve been seeing them. I guess that’s kind of the same thing, isn’t it?”

  I put a hand over her menu, stopping the clapping noise the two pieces of plastic were making under her tense fiddling.

  “What are you talking about, Kia?”

  She inhaled deeply, visibly stealing herself before meeting my eye. “Are you seeing anyone, specifically Claudia and Taylor? But if you have a list, I’d like that, too.”

/>   I drew my hand away. “Who told you I was seeing Claudia and Taylor, or anyone else?”

  Her gaze dropped away from mine and the answer was like a slap—Van.

  “Nessie mentioned that you’d been seeing Claudia since that afternoon at school and you and Taylor had been seeing each other for a while…” she broke off. Her throat muscles worked. There was uncertainty in her eyes when she lifted them to me again. “I just want to know if—”

  “No!” I said with a bit more bite than I meant. “I have never been with Claudia. I did go to meet her the day after the school incident, but only because she promised me answers and you weren’t talking to me. I went to her house. I was there for twenty minutes. She got grabby and I left. As for Taylor.” I rifled a hand through my hair. “We slept together once. It was a year ago and it was the biggest mistake I ever made. It never happened again. As for any other girls you might be worried about.” I peered closely into her eyes, letting her see the truth as I spoke. “I can count on three fingers the number of girls I’ve been with. Taylor was the only one I hadn’t been in a relationship with. She was the last person I was with and, as I said, that was a year ago. There is only one girl I’m interested in and she’s sitting here at the table with me.”

  I could almost feel her searching through my subconscious, digging for even the tiniest sliver of untruth, but I kept her gaze, unflinching. She must have found what she was looking for, because she slowly smiled.

  “So your exes, I don’t have to worry about them coming back for seconds?”

  I grinned. “You have no one to worry about, nena. I’m all yours.”

  A faint flush darkened her cheeks, but she kept my gaze. “Now, your turn. What’s on your mind?”

  I was saved by the waitress coming to the table asking for our drink choices and if we’d decided yet. We got our drinks and asked her to come back.

  “Adam?”

  I looked up from the menu I knew like the back of my hand, already feeling her eyes boring into me.

  “Yes?”

  Carefully, she reached across the small amount of space separating us and rested her hand over mine.

  “Whatever’s it is, you can talk to me about it. I might not be able to fix it whatever it is, but I’m pretty smart. I can at least help you think of some ideas on how to fix it.”